San Joaquin County Biographies
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HON. CHARLES WILLIS NORTON.
In the enumeration of the men of the present generation who have won
honor for themselves and at the same time have honored the state to which they
belonged, distinct recognition is accorded Hon. Charles Willis Norton, for he
was one of the distinguished citizens of California and figured prominently in
the affairs of state and county. He was a native son of California and among
those who knew him from his youth up, he won the recognition which is only
accorded to sterling worth and upright American manhood. He was born on his
father's ranch near Lodi, San Joaquin County, July 18, 1861, a son of Oscar O.
and Maria Julia (Elliott) Norton, born in New York and New Hampshire,
respectively. The American branch of the Norton family was represented by
Thomas Norton, who came from Ackley, County Surrey, England, in 1639, and
settled at Guilford, Conn. Ebenezer Norton, an ancestor of our subject, was a
colonel in the Revolutionary War and was a member of the general assembly of
Connecticut, and Medad Norton, a brother of Mr. Norton's paternal
great-grandfather, was a soldier and fifer in the Revolutionary War.
The father, Oscar O. Norton, was reared in his native county of
Schuyler, N. Y., receiving his education in the public schools and at Starkey
Academy. In his twenty-third year, he went to Illinois, where he remained until
1859 when he started for California, coming via the Isthmus of Panama and
arriving in San Francisco on July 15, and that same year he settled in San
Joaquin County, where he followed carpentering until 1864, when he went to
farming about ten miles from Stockton. He farmed this place for many years,
then the ranch was purchased by our subject and in 1881, the father purchased
another ranch, where he made his home until 1903 when he located in Stockton.
By his own efforts and able management this ranch was brought to a high state of
cultivation and was regarded as one of the best in the country. On October 4,
1860, Oscar O. Norton was married to Miss Maria J, Elliott, who, with her
parents crossed the plains to California in 1858 and settled near the ranch
later owned by Mr. Norton. They were the parents of three children: Charles
Willis, Mrs. Alice E. Hurd, and Arthur L.
Charles Willis Norton grew to manhood on the farm and attended the
public schools of the county and was graduated from the Stockton high school;
later he took up the study of law in Mr. Minor's office in Stockton, and in 1896
was admitted to the bar. While studying law he was elected public administrator
of San Joaquin County. From 1899 to 1902 he was deputy district attorney for
the county and from 1906 to 1916 he was district attorney, his most famous case
being the trunk murder mystery known as the Le Deux case, and it is the
consensus of opinion that Judge Norton was the leading criminal lawyer in the
county. Elected Judge of the Superior Court, he served until he resigned on
account of ill health. In his twenty-sixth year, Judge Norton planted a
vineyard on the home place near Lodi and as the years went by he became one of
the leading viticulturists of that section, owning and operating one of the
largest vineyards of the district. In partnership with Mr. Angier, under the
firm name of Norton & Angier, he conducted a general fruit shipping business.
Near Lodi, on January 1, 1885, Judge Norton was married to Miss Nellie
F. Staples, also a native of San Joaquin County, the only child of Capt. John F.
and Mary Emma (Simpson) Staples, natives of Maryland and Missouri, respectively,
who crossed the plains to California in early days. Captain Staples located at
Staples Ferry, established by his brother, D. J. Staples, and there he was
married to Miss Mary Emma Simpson. He was a captain in the Civil War and came
of Mayflower stock. Some years after Mr. Staples' death, his widow married Dr.
J. L. Sargent, a prominent physician, and later a successful cattleman in this
county. Dr. Sargent has passed away, but Mrs. Sargent makes her home with Mrs.
Norton. Judge and Mrs. Norton were the parents of four children: Oscar Sargent
served in the tank corps in France during the World War, now in charge of his
mother's ranches; Lillian is Mrs. Eric Brandstad, wife of a successful rancher;
Sylvia is the wife of Brace R. Davis of San Francisco; and Willis S. is
deceased. Judge Norton gave no small degree of credit for his success to his
faithful wife who so bravely encouraged him in his ambition to reach the highest
place in his profession, as well as aiding him in his business enterprises by
her able co-operation and counsel. Judge Norton rose to the highest office in
the gift of the people of the county, that of Judge of the Superior Court, and
all of his decisions, while on the bench, were fair and he was faithful to every
case committed to his charge. He spent his whole life in San Joaquin County and
was well known and highly esteemed throughout the state.
Judge Norton was very prominent in fraternal orders, being a member of
Lodi Lodge No. 250, F. & A. M.; Stockton Chapter, No. 28, R. A. M.; Stockton
Commandery No. 8, K. T.; Islam Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., San Francisco; Lodi
Chapter No. 150, O. E. S.; Stockton Lodge No. 218, B. P. O. E.; and Stockton
Parlor No. 7, N. S. G. W. He was the recipient of many honors in fraternal
circles, having served one year as illustrious master of the Grand Council of
Royal and Select Masters and one term as grand high priest of the Grand Chapter,
R. A. M., of the state of California. In politics he was a stanch adherent of
the Republican party platform and his religious views were that of the
Congregational Church. He was the founder of the First National Bank of Lodi
and served as a director; he was also a director in the Lodi Investment Company,
owners and builders of Hotel Lodi and the Lodi theater building. Judge Norton
passed away on July 11, 1918, and since his death, Mrs. Norton has planted more
land to grapes, so that there is now 360 acres under cultivation. Well known
throughout California, where his entire life was spent, Judge Norton took great
pride in the achievements of the state, in its marked and rapid progress, and he
was numbered among those who always upheld its professional status.
The remarks of George F. McNoble speaking for the court out of respect
to the memory of the late Judge C. W. Norton are as follows: "If the court
please, it is with deep regret and genuine sorrow that we are called upon this
day to learn of the passing of our late distinguished brother, Judge C. W.
Norton. Although his death has been daily expected, his departure is none the
less keenly deplored. Few men of his time, in our midst, have been more
universally respected, honored and admired than he. High honors and public
favors fell to his lot and more than this, was the great personal respect in
which he was held by all the people. He won and held the esteem of all classes
of men by his probity of character, his even-handed fairness and his uniform
courtesy. It was his good fortune not only to be honest in all his dealings
with men, but also to have all men believe in his sense of justice and honor.
As an advocate and public prosecutor, he showed great poise and absolute
fairness and often won by the very faith that men had in him, without waiting to
scan too closely the complex details of the case. As a judge, he went on the
bench in middle life with a mind ripened and broadened by varied experiences and
from the very beginning he won and held the esteem and admiration of the bench,
bar and litigants generally, by the calmness and fairness with which he disposed
of the business of the court. While not quick to make new acquaintances, or to
ingratiate himself into the favor of men, yet he had the quiet faculty of
earning the respect of all whom he met and of retaining that respect untarnished
throughout his life�time. In early life he had the practical experience of the
field and farm. He served one term as public administrator, one term as an
assistant in the district attorney's office, one term as head of that office and
the last ten years of his active life were spent on the bench. Scarcely has it
fallen the good lot of any man to have gone through as much of combat and of
struggle in times of strenuous opposition, both professionally and politically
and to have come out of the fight with a character unassailed and a reputation
unblemished. His sympathies were many sided. He enjoyed athletics even until
late in life and participated in many helpful games. As a traveler, he spent
his vacations in tramping through the high Sierras and was very familiar indeed
with the beauties of California's mountains and valleys. As a farmer and grape
grower he was a success and the products of his vineyard sold with his name on
the outside of the boxes without interior inspection, in foreign markets. In a
fraternal way, he was unusually honored and if his life had not been cut short,
it is clearly within the line of truth to say that no man in the state scarcely
would have held more fraternal honors. However, it was a jurist and arbiter of
the disputes of men, that he won his most signal honors. It is safe to say that
no man within our memory had a better all-round equipment for judging and
deciding the disputes of mankind coming into court, more fairly than he. He had
the friendship of all the members of the bar and more than that he had the
respect based upon the appreciation of his genuine merits. He was an honored
member of the American, State, and San Joaquin County Bar associations,
History of San Joaquin County, California � Los Angeles, Historic Record Co.,
1923
p 356
Transcribed by Kathy Sedler.